CVE-2026-0994
A denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability exists in google.protobuf.json_format.ParseDict() in Python, where the max_recursion_depth limit can be bypassed when parsing nested google.protobuf.Any messages.
Does this matter?
High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.69%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.
Description
A denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability exists in google.protobuf.json_format.ParseDict() in Python, where the max_recursion_depth limit can be bypassed when parsing nested google.protobuf.Any messages. Due to missing recursion depth accounting inside the internal Any-handling logic, an attacker can supply deeply nested Any structures that bypass the intended recursion limit, eventually exhausting Python’s recursion stack and causing a RecursionError.
- CVSS 4.0
- 8.2 HIGHCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:L/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/M
- EPSS
- 0.69% probability · 51th percentile
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-674
- Affected
- google/protobuf
- Source
- cve-coordination@google.com
References
- https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/pull/25239Patch, Vendor Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:16174
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:3059
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:3094
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:3095
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:3097
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:3218
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:3219
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:3220
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:3461
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:3462
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:3958
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:3959
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:61627
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:61629
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:8746
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:8747
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:8748
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-0994
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2432398
- https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-0994.json
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.